THE CHALLENGE
The Steins didn’t understand why their young son was acting out, why he was different than his peers, why they felt so much stress and embarrassment as a result of Judah’s behavior. “It drove me nuts that he wouldn’t simply ‘listen and obey’,” said mom, Sarah. The first two medications they tried created negative side effects, and only added more chaos to their home. They wanted a better family life, but just didn’t know how to achieve it with ADHD in the mix.
THE OUTCOME
Now, Sarah reports she understands Judah’s behavior more and her empathy has increased with him. “I can approach situations better and de-escalate them faster,” she says. “I teach my husband the techniques I learned in the course, and then implement plans and systems at home that help us all.”
They started experiencing less struggles and improved behavior almost immediately. “What I learned helped me understand Judah more and, therefore, approach him, his intense emotions, and challenging situations more effectively,” Sarah adds.
Her favorite take-away from the course? The realization that ADHD is so much more than the diagnostic symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity. “With a child with ADHD, you have to go so much further beyond typical parenting strategies, but we don’t know that starting out. Penny’s course teaches that long before we’d learn it on our own.”
“With a child with ADHD, you have to go so much further beyond typical parenting strategies, but we don’t know that when our child is diagnosed with ADHD. Penny’s course teaches that long before we’d learn it on our own.”
— Sarah Stein, Mom of 7-year-old Judah, who has ADHD
Like you, Sarah has a lot of goals for her parenting and her child. “…To help him find balance, happiness, and acceptance for who he is, regardless of his ADHD. To help him learn skills, boundaries, management of his emotions, and coping with his ADHD. To create a home that has structure, that is safe and secure from the world. To not put my expectations on him, but to accept him for who he is and what he can do. To help him be a friend to others and accept others. To not lose my mind or sense of self in this midst of being a good, loving, patient, and understanding mom.”
Our expectations for our kids can seem like a tall order, but the goals Sarah shared are completely doable, even with a child with ADHD. We simply have to figure out how to accomplish them by letting our child’s own personal truth be our compass.
Sarah says, “I tried other parenting classes in the past, as well as reading books on parenting. Nothing seemed to match the unique needs of our son and our parenting needs.” Things finally started to click when she read Boy Without Instructions after Judah’s diagnosis. She felt so confident in my approach after reading that one book, she says it lead her to look for more from me and ended up taking the course.
The Complete Guide to Parenting ADHD online course guided the Stein family through adjusting their parenting compass so they can achieve success. Sarah reports experiencing many benefits from the course:
- Less stress for me, the parent
- Less stress on my child
- Better behavior
- Reduced ADHD symptom conflicts
- I understand my child better
- I enjoy time with my child more
- I’m able to discern some of the why’s behind my child’s behavior, in order to better address it
- I’m more confident working with my child’s teachers
- I’ve implemented structure to calm the chaos
- I have more empathy!
I’d call that a success, and Sarah does too. She says they’ve experienced around 70 percent improvement in family life since starting the course.
Of course, the online course isn’t the only thing their success can be attributed to. Judah also started behavior therapy, occupational therapy, social skills classes, and made some beneficial medication changes. Managing ADHD successfully is a complex process, but parent training is a proven successful element, as the Stein Family has certainly experienced.
“I would still be lost and confused without the extensive knowledge and support I’ve received from the course,” says Sarah. “I kid you not, my husband and I would be lost without Penny. She’s changed our lives.”
